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Tuesday, August 11, 2015

As genealogists we would all like to think that what we do will matter to future generations. We hope that our efforts will mean something and that after we are gone, someone will pick up where we left off. What can we do to help instill an interest in the younger generation? Recently I've had grandkids express an interest in "doing what you do, Nana." Frankly it surprised me because they are still relatively young. But when we recently held a family reunion with our kids and grandkids, we decided to weave in a few family history experiences along with the other activities.

Using the iPads to learn about their ancestors

One thing we did was to take the grandkids down to Family History Discovery Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. They have varied activities to help families learn about their family history and many, if not most of the activities are very child-friendly.

Seeing their ancestors' immigration

Upon entering the center, we received an iPad to use during our visit. After logging into a FamilySearch account,* we placed the iPad on various displays and had a totally customized experience as we learned about our ancestors. Drawing on what is in the FamilySearch tree, we had a choice of a variety of activities. One activity allowed us to see our ancestors' immigration and life events displayed on a large map. In one of the rooms in the center, a display transformed the room to the ancestor's time period while we learned what life was like for them.

Grandchild's face in a costume of his ancestry

Another display showed the ethnic origins of our ancestors. The kids loved being able to have their picture taken in their ancestor's costume. Another booth allowed us to record some of our own life experiences. The kids thought it was a lot of fun to answer the questions.

The next two days of our reunion were filled with fun activities such as riding go-karts, swimming, bowling, boating at the lake and roasting hot dogs over the fire in the mountains. We had a great time together. On the last day of our reunion, following a dinner of barbecue chicken, corn on the cob, pasta salad and watermelon, one of our daughters pulled the kids aside for an activity that helped the kids learn about a couple of their ancestors.

With a little help, the kids had fun painting the backdrop for the play they would put on. We had to giggle when we saw the 2 year old busily painting his legs instead. Thankfully it was a very washable paint.

Painting the backdrop for the play

After they finished painting the backdrop, our daughter gathered the children around her and told them two stories about their ancestors. One story was from their grandpa's side and one was from my side of the family.Then the adults pulled up their lawn chairs and enjoyed the production. While our daughter and her husband narrated the stories, the kids acted out the scenes from their ancestors' lives, adding a little of their own creative interpretation. While I doubt my ancestor actually did the "happy dance," when the thief who stole his last morsel of bread for his family died or that my husband's ancestor turned into the headless horseman following his trek across the plains as portrayed by another grandchild, we surely enjoyed their dramatized versions and overall, I think our ancestors would have approved.

I don't remember a headless horseman as part of the story!

Following the play, we enjoyed a dutch oven dessert and a firework show. The reunion was a success and a wonderful time to reflect on the past, enjoy the present and look forward to more time together in the future.

After everyone went home and the clutter was picked up, the sticky floors were mopped and the mountains of laundry were done, I reflected on our reunion and felt that deep contentment that comes from having spent time with those you love . We had a great time and I wondered if just maybe in the process of having fun, we were also able to instill in our grandkids a desire to learn a little more about their heritage.

The cast

One of my favorite comments came from a nine year old grandson. Because he was one who has expressed an interest in doing genealogy, I asked him after visiting the Discovery Center what he would like to help with. He looked at me and said, "Did you notice that some of the people in our tree didn't have a death date? We don't even know when and where they died. That bothered me. I want to help find that information."

I am amazed how quickly he picked up on the missing information and thrilled to learn that someone from the younger generations is already ready and willing for me to pass it on.

Thursday, July 16, 2015

My summers as a child were spent with family. We fished, we camped and vacationed together. Most years included a trip to visit our cousins in Colorado. Oh how we loved our time with our grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

In the evenings we would gather together either at grandma's house or at one of my aunt and uncle's homes. Other evenings we would head to the mountains where we would roast hot dogs and load our plates with all kinds of delicious salads and side dishes. No one ever went hungry.

Some summers we visited my uncles' saw mill in the mountains. Knowing full well that we would itch the rest of the night, we would nonetheless climb the mountain of saw dust, our feet burning as they sunk deep within the hot dust. We loved the mountains where the air was cool and crisp and the smell of pine was strong.

Whether in the mountains or at one of their homes the kids would run and play while the adults visited. Kick the can, capture the flag and games we created with our own imagination filled our time.

It was there in the summers that I tried without success to chew pine gum. Supposedly if you suck on the sap from a pine tree long enough, it softens and you can chew it like gum. Although I tried it every year, I never was patient enough and would always end up with the bitter stuff broken up in bits and stuck to my teeth.

It was there that I learned to ride a tote gote and later learned to drive a pickup over the back roads of the farm. We hunted for worms to take fishing and walked the fence around my grandma's house.

It was there that I learned to love carrots and fresh peas. We would stand in my aunt's garden and pull up the sweet carrots, wash them with a hose and eat them right there. But as much as I loved the carrots, I really loved the garden peas and I still do.

It was there one summer that my cousin taught me how to make cat tail torches. We dipped cat tails (the plant) in gasoline and lit them on fire. Just as he had promised, they made the perfect torch. As the fire died out, we tossed the torch aside and dipped the next cat tail in the gas and lit it. Imagine our surprise when we turned around to discover one of their outbuildings on fire! We ran for the porch where we grabbed the milking buckets and the hose and managed to get the fire out. The charred black scar on the building served as a reminder of our foolishness for years to come.

We rode horses, floated down the canal on inner tubes, went swimming at Splash Land and ate snow cones. To this day blue raspberry snow cones are an essential part of my summer.

Summers were a magical time when we strengthened family relationships and made memories. I am so thankful for those special cherished memories.

Now I am the grandma and it is to my house that the kids and grandkids gather. I hope that someday they will look back at summers and remember how much fun we had together. With that in mind, I am going to take a break in blogging for a few weeks to spend time with family and make some memories (hopefully minus the torches!)

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Minnie Diggs. She was born a Ganus, yet no one was quite sure why she was remembered as Minnie Diggs. Maybe it was her maternal grandmother's name they told me, or maybe just a nickname of some sorts. I could think of several possibilities, so I tucked the name Diggs in the back of my mind until I knew for certain. I wanted to believe that although she had a rough start, Minnie Ganus had ultimately had a good life. I wanted to believe that after her grandmother took her in at three years of age (a story shared HERE) she loved her and cared for her as her own, and I wanted to believe that, although her grandmother was certainly "older" when Minnie came to live with her, it had been good for them both. I wanted to know so much more than any governmental record could tell me. However, records did tell a great deal of her story. I was able to learn that Minnie remained with her grandmother until the 19th of November, 1890 when in Campbell County, Georgia 20 year old Minnie Ganus married John Hewell Diggs. I now knew why she was called Minnie Diggs. Apparently someone at some point in time had been aware of Minnie's marriage although time had blurred that fact. By the time Minnie married, her grandmother Nancy Foster was 73 years old and had cared for Minnie for about 17 years.Grandma Nancy Foster lived another 15 years after Minnie married John. While she lived the remainder of her life with her son Willis and daughter, Mary, Minnie and her husband John and their children lived nearby. Nancy would live long enough to know four of Minnie's children before she died on 13 March 1905. Nancy was buried in the Fairburn City Cemetery in Fulton County, Georgia.

Nancy E. Foster's Headstone
Photo taken by Rhonda Brady Rampy, Used by permissionFind A Grave

John and Minnie [Ganus] Diggs lived their entire married lives in East Point, on the outskirts of Atlanta. There John farmed and together he and Minnie reared seven children; four boys and three girls. Their children were John C., Joseph E., Mary Jewell, Jamie, Herbert O., Velma Elizabeth and Alice Louise . Minnie was able to see their oldest children marry and have their own children, but her three youngest would have time with their mother cut short. On the 21 March 1921, at the age of 50, Minnie passed from this life leaving 9 year old Alice, 14 year old Velma, and 16 year old Herbert without their mother. According to the death certificate, her cause of death was consumption, which we now call tuberculosis. Her death certificate helped to fill in a few details of her life and death.

Minnie Digg's Death Certificate [2]

Seeing her father listed as "Bud" Gainous made me wonder if either she and her husband had known him well enough to know his nickname or if perhaps they hadn't really known him at all and Bud was just a guess. I've never seen him referred to as Bud, but always as James. Minnie was buried in the Bethel Church Cemetery in Fulton County, Georgia.Minnie received a brief mention in the newspaper, The Atlanta Constitution, on 22 March 1921. It simply stated:

"Mrs. J. H. Diggs, 50 years old, died Sunday at the residence in East Point. She is survived by four sons, J.C., J.E., J.F. and H.O. Diggs and three daughters, Mrs. H.D. Eidson and Misses Elizabeth and Lucile Diggs." [2]

Initially this was Minnie's story. The story of a little girl who lost her mother when she was only three years old and was raised by her grandmother Nancy Elizabeth Foster. Minnie married, had children and then, like her mother, she died much too young. Minnie left three children to be reared by another woman, a step-mother. But as I learned about Minnie, I realized that in the shadows of her story was another story, the story of her widowed grandmother, Nancy Foster. The grandmother who undoubtedly lived a very different life than she had planned. Long after her own children were grown, Nancy returned to the role of a young mother, changing diapers, bandaging skinned knees and raising her granddaughter through marriage. Truthfully, there are many such women in my line; women who helped raise grandchildren as well as nieces, nephews or even seemingly unrelated children. My great grandfather's brother, Roderick Monroe Ganus and his wife, Carrie, took several children into their home over the years, including my own grandfather. Two Chance boys were taken in and reared by John Monroe Ganus' brother, Addison Ganus and his wife Sally.

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About Me

I have been actively researching for over 25 years primarily in the areas of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas and even the southern portion of Colorado. When my nose isn’t in a quarterly or other genealogy book or publication, I am researching or attending a genealogy conference, institute, online class or webinar. I obtained a bachelor’s degree from BYU and I earned a certificate in genealogical research from the National Institute for Genealogical Studies. I'm a member of numerous genealogical societies including the National Genealogical Society, Georgia Genealogical Society, North Carolina Genealogical Society and Carroll County Georgia Genealogical Society.
Questions or comments? You can contact me at shelltag1 at gmail dot com.